seems like Bill Gates and some other folks see the unsustainability of factory farming and want to make fake meat more to reduce the environmental impact more than an ethic animal rights reasoning.

they claim they are going to make fake meat that tastes so much like regular meat that everyone will eat it.

whatever their reasoning and motivations less factory farming and meat consumption is always a good thing though i do wonder how much like meat they can make things actually taste. fake meat isnt exactly a new concept.

i also have to wonder even if it tastes like real meat how many actual die hard meat eaters are gonna eat it? i mean people who are interested in meat alternatives have already tried them.

i think the whole growing of meat from animal cells is just nasty. blech. blurs all sorts of weird moral lines.

I think quite a bit of meat eaters would be interested in vegan meat that tastes like animal meat. A big reason why some people don't want to go vegan is because they have a difficult time adjusting to the food. It sounds like a lame excuse but that's what does it for some people and if it gets them to go vegan, I'm all for it!

_________________"...anarchists only want to burn cars and punch cops."- nickvicious"We'll be eating our own words 30 years from now when we're demanding our legislators outlaw aerosol-based cyber dildo-wielding death holograms."- Brian

I'm interested to see where this goes. My dad is one of those people who tends to think a meal isn't complete without some kind of meat - he certainly won't go more than a day without some kind of meat. I've always wondered if he'd relax that if we had a better meat substitute to fill his nostalgic urges.

I think growing meat from animal cells is really the only way this is going to happen, and is what the future will entail. Also the animal cells are probably so far removed from directly coming from an animal that ethically it doesn't cross any lines whatsoever for me. Similar idea to stem cell research.

I think this is great, and their every effort to market these products will not only be an advertisement against factory farming, but as has been said one that will offer a more palatable alternative to most people than a completely different diet.

I think growing meat from animal cells is really the only way this is going to happen, and is what the future will entail. Also the animal cells are probably so far removed from directly coming from an animal that ethically it doesn't cross any lines whatsoever for me. Similar idea to stem cell research.

Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:51 amPosts: 6025Location: United States of New England

that's a good point. no die hard meat eater is going to switch to fake meat if it's too expensive when factory farmed meat is so inexpensive.unless they are starting to have health concerns and want to make a switch but dont want to give up the flavor.

People eat meat:1. because they like the taste, flavour, aroma 2. old habits die hard, they always ate meat, their parents ate meat, their grandparents ate meat...3. so that they don't stand out4. because of image5. because they believe meat really is healthier, or will help them achieve their goals (paleo, LCHF, Weston A. Price, bodybuilding, Atkins)6. because they believe they can't live without it ("So, do you take any supplement to compensate for the lack of meat?")7. they don't want to, but they procrastinate their vegetarianism

I don't think 4. or 5. will stop eating meat for as long as any meat is available.

i wonder why he can't just finance beyond meat. get them a giant machine and help them go bigger and better.

It doesn't have the same nutritional qualities and it involves hexane treatment? Those would be my guesses. Even though vat meat would be an "unnatural" process, I think that non-vegans might largely prefer it as at least somewhat more "natural." Learning that your soy meat is processed with a neurotoxin might be more alarming to some than vat meat.

If they make fake meat with the same nutritional contents as real meat, I won't eat it. I already get enough saturated fats from VPITS.

Mark Post and others involved in vat meat research have indicated that they want to reduce saturated fat and increase monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats to make the meats appeal to the health conscious. If that can be managed while maintaining the flavor and texture of meat (and micronutrient content), I think there could be a lot of takers.

I love beyond meat but it doesn't contain b-12, taurine, creatine, heme iron (which doesn't really affect me, but might appeal to people with iron deficiencies) and the other handful of nutrients that meat contains and plants don't.

_________________Like the beleaguered people of sub-Saharan Africa, I'll just go to Denny's. Solidarity!-mumbles

I guess it's good it if reduces suffering and factory farming. That being said, I have no desire to eat meat, or the things that are supposed to imitate it. The idea of eating animal cells grosses me out even if an animal didn't die for me to eat it. I just don't want to eat that.

ETA: "I’ve gotten to learn about several new food companies that are creating plant-based alternatives to meat through some monetary investments I’ve made with Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins." quote from Bill Gates. Guess that answers that!